A Conversation with a Lutheran Friend on Justification
I'm having a friendly conversation with a Lutheran seminarian over at www.PaulisCatholic.com. The topic is justification (surprise!!!). Here's a recent response of mine to him:As a Catholic, I understand the Greek verb dikaio as juridical AND transformative. A sinner “becomes righteous” and this is why the Greek word was rightly translated as iustificatio—“making just.” I’m saying that a legal, declarative change is not merely what God does

My Conversion to Catholicism (and Information about the Anglican Personal Ordinariates)
The Story of my Conversion to Catholicism (Audio Version)- and Information about the Anglican Personal Ordinariates by Taylor Marshall Click on the triangular “play” button above. This recording is in two parts. The first half explains how I became a Christian (through a baseball autograph from Tom Monaghan), then an Episcopal priest, and then how I became a Catholic Christian. The second half is a presentation on the Anglican Personal Ordinariates and a public Q&A session on that topic.You have to wait about 8 seconds to hear anything, so please don't give up after you hit play. A speci

The Crucified Rabbi as Part of a Trilogy (and the Other Two Books)
I'm starting to hear back from folks who have finished reading my new book The Crucified Rabbi: Judaism and the Origins of Catholic Christianity. Some readers are people that I know, some of them are people that I ha

New Blog to Watch: Caritas et Veritas
My buddy Dr. Jeff Morrow and some of his friends are putting together a really interesting and good-looking blog.Please check it out: Caritas et Veritas.

Was the Black Stone (al-Hajar-ul-Aswad) of the Muslims Once the Head of an Idol?
The Catholic Saint John Damascene (676 – 749) reports that that sacred black stone (al-Hajar-ul-Aswad in Arabic) that Muslims kiss and venerate at the Kaaba in Mecca is actually the head of an ancient Arab idol depicting the fertility goddess Al-‘Uzzá.This fact alone would be provocative in itself. However, we also read from Islamic sources that Muhammad once uttered that his followers should venerate and pray to Al-‘Uzzá and two other Arab goddesses. According to Muslim tradition, the angel Gabriel rebuk